Chronograph watch

ABSTRACT

A chronograph watch including an oscillating lever. The axis of rotation of the oscillating lever is carried by a moveable member. Movement of the oscillating lever controls part of the operation of the watch; movement of the moveable member controls another part of the operation of the counter.

United States Patent i 1 1111 3,901,020

Capt et al. 1 Aug. 26, 1975 [54] CHRONOGRAPH WATCH 3,739,570 6/1973 Buchmunn 58/76 3,796,041 3 1974 B0 lt H 58 76 [75) Inventors: Edmond Capt, Le Sentier; Donald u Rochat, Les Bioux, both of Swltzerland Primary E.mminerCveorge H. Miller, Jr, [73] Assignee: Valjoux S.A., Vaud. Switzerland Attorney, Agent, or FirmSilverman & Cass, Ltd.

[22] Filed: Apr. 4, [974 [2]] Appl, No.: 457,988

[57] ABSTRACT [30} Foreign Application Priority Data Apr, 6, 1973 Switzerland 5002 73 A Chronograph WatCh including an oscillating lever- The axis of rotation of the oscillating lever is carried 2 C| 7 53 9 by a moveable member. Movement of the oscillating [5|] In. 1 H 041: 7 lever controls part of the operation of the watch; [58] Fish] f Search 58/74 75 7 78' 9 movement of the moveuhle member controls another part of the operation of the counter.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 3.675.413 7/l972 Fluck 58/74 PATENTED AUG 2 61975 FIG.

CHRUNOGRAPH WATCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a chronograph watch. at least one of the counters of which is pcrma nently frictionally driven and is controlled by a brake operable to stop or release said counter. and also is controlled by a set to zero hammer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The watch of the invention is characterized by the fact that the control mechanism of the watch counter comprises an oscillating lever the oscillating movements of which are produced by another. the levers of the chronograph mechanism *of the last named lever also adapted to start or stop the watch. or to reset the same to zero. The axis of rotation of the oscillating lever is carried by a movable member. the movements of which are effected by two further levers of the chronograph mechanism. such that the oscillating movements of oscillating lever around its axis permit control of a part of the operation of the said watch counter and the movement ofthe member carrying the a\is of rotation of said oscillating lever permit control of another part of the operation of the said counter.

BRllzl- DESCRIPTION OF THE. DRAWINGS The draw ing shows. by way ofevample. one embodiment of the imention.

FIG 1 is a plan \ic\\ of a portion of a chronograph watch. \iewed from the side of the bridges thereof. in H hich only the elements necessary for understanding of the imention (substantially all of the elements of the chronograph mechanism) have been represented.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial views of the chronograph mechanism represented in two other working positions.

HUS 4a and 4/1 constitute. togetherv a broken sectional view taken along line IVJV of FIG. I. in the direction indicated generally on an enlarged scale.

PK 5 is a plan \ie of a detail of the chronograph mechanism viewed from the side of the base-plate, and

FIG. (1 is a plan view of the detail of FIG. 5. on a smaller scale. in a different operating position.

DESURlPTlON OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The watch represented comprises a chronograph wheel I with which is meshed. when the chronograph is operating. with a pinion 2 rigidly connected to a pinion 3 which is meshed itself with the wheel 4 of the seconds gearing of the movement. The axis 21: of the pinion 2 is mounted for oscillating movement so as to permit pinion 2 to disengage from the chronograph wheel I; to this effect. the upper pivot-shank of pinion 2 is supported by a clutch lever 5 the action of which is controlled b a return spring 511. and the displacements of which. which result from starting and stopping of the chronograph. are produced by means which are disclosed hereafter.

A shaft 6. carries the wheel I and a return to 'lero heart 7. A portion 8r! of a member 8 cooperates with the heart 7. Member 8 is ofgcnerally swingle-bar shape and is articulated at 9 on a lever H) which functions as a return to lero hammer. The shaft 6 also carries a fin ger I I which operates. once per revolution. an intermediary wheel 12 pivotally mounted on a ournal 13 carried by a bridge 14 of the frame of the movement, i.e.

the gearing bridge and the barrel bridge. The intermediary wheel 12 is meshed with a wheel 15 of a counter of minutes. the axis It) of which. carries a heart 17 of return to zero with which cooperates a portion 8b of the member 8.

The watch represented comprises moreover a counter of the hours situated on the face of the baseplatc. 18 of the movement. opposite the dial which has not been represented. The shaft 19 of the hours counter is frictionally driven. by means of a cambered resilient washer 20, by a wheel 21 meshed with a pinion 22 carried by the barrel. 23 (FIG. 4a). The shaft 19 of the counter of the hours carries a heart 24 of return to zero as well as a disc 25 for braking the heart 24. The manner in which heart 24 and disc 25 operate is disclosed hereafter.

The control mechanism for the different operations of the chronograph comprises two control levers. one of which. designated by 26, operates to effect starting and stopping of the chronograph. Lever 26 is articulated at 27 on the frame and carries, articulated at 28 thereon. an oscillating lever 29 called the "reverse le ver." Lever 2) is provided with two beaks 29a and 2912. the purpose of which will be described hereafter; a spring 30. carried by the control lever 26. maintains. at rest. the reverse lever 29 in the position represented in FIG. 1.

The other control lever. designated by 31. is articulated at 32 on the frame and operates to effect the return to lero operation. The two control levers 26 and 3]. respectively. on which act buttons which have not been represented. and which are carried by the casing of the watch. are situated on both sides of the axis of the winding and setting stem 33, visible in FIG. 4a. The said axis is itself designated by 33 in FIG. I. The two bearing surfaces 34 and 35 of the two control levers 26 and 31 are symmetric with respect to the stem 33.

The control mechanism of the chronograph comprises a cam including of three superposed elements 36, 37 and 38 one with each other. by weldment. for example. The said cam has thus three levels and there fore can operate elements positioned at different levels. The cam is rotatably mounted on a collar 39a of the hub 39 of the crown wheel 40. Wheel 40 meshes with the winding pinion 41 carried by the stem 33. The three-clement cam 36-37-38 is held in place on the col lar 39a and a screw 42 (FIGS. 1 and 4a). The axis of the collar 39a. and consequently the axis of rotation of the three-element cam. intersects the axis of the winding and setting stem 33.

The action of the lower element 38 of the threeeleinent cam is controlled on the one hand by the reverse lever 29 and on the other hand by the control lever 31; such control permits rotativc movements. in one sense or in the other. ofthe cam; the action of the element 38 is also controlled by a jumpenspring 43 which cooperates with one or the other of three slots 44, 45 and 46 of the element 38. according to the position of the cam.

The element 38 operates a lever 47, the head 47a of which. is engaged in a slot 48 ofelement 38 and is artic ulated at 49 on the frame. The purpose of said lever 47 will be discussed hereafter. The lower element 38 of the cam also operates a brake 50, articulated at 5] on the frame. by means on a slot 52 of the element 38. Slot 52 acts on a nose 50a of the brake. The brake 50 is in tended to cooperate. by means of its shoe 50h. with the wheel 1 of the chronograph.

The intermediary element 37 of the three-element cam operates the clutch lever S by means ofa nose 37a acting on an arm 5b of the lever 5.

Finally. the upper element 36 of the cam operates the hammer ll) of return to zero. Hammer is articulated at 53 on the frame. and is provided with a nose lllu with which cooperates a portion 361: of the element 36.

The mechanism of the chronograph operates as fol lows:

When the different elements of the chronograph oc cupy the position represented in FIG. I. that is to say the intermediary position of the cam. in which the jumper 43 is engaged into the intermediary slot 45. the chronograph is stopped. its hands occupy a position in which they were at the moment of the stopping. The oscillating clutch pinion 2 is then disengaged from the wheel I of the chronograph while the brake 50 hears thereon. The elements 80 and 8b of the member 8 carried by the return to zero hammer [0 are maintained at a distance from the return to zero hearts 7 and 17.

If, from this position, a force or pressure is exerted on the surface of the control lever 31, as indicated by the arrow 54 in FIG. 2, an arm 3lu ofthis control lever,

bearing on the element 38 of the three-elements cam, operates this cam in the counter-clockwise direction, bringing it in the return to zero position in which the jumper 43 is engaged into the slot 44 of the element 38 (H6. 2). In this position of the cam, the brake is lifted, releasing the wheel of chronograph l, and the hammer I0 is released. to permit it to occupy, under the effect of a return spring 55. the position represented in FIG. 2 in which the parts 8:! and 8b of the member 8 bear on the two return to zero hearts 7 and r [7, respectively, of the counter of chronograph and of the counter of minutes. In this position of the cam, the oscillating pinion 2 of the clutch of the chronograph remains disengaged from the wheel of chronograph 1.

In this position of the mechanism, the nose 29a of the reverse lever 29 is situated opposite a bearing surface 56 of the element 38 of the cam. Consequently, if a force or pressure is exerted, as indicated by the arrow 57 in FIG. 3. on the bearing surface 34 of the control lever 26. the nose 29a of the reverse lever 29 acts on the bearing surface 56 of the element 38 of the cam for rotating the cam in the clockwise direction and bringing it into the position represented in FIG. 3, in which the jumper 43 is engaged in the slot 46 of the element 38 of the cam. It is to be noted that, in the course of reaching this position, the cam has passed over its intermediary position (shown in FIG. 1) without stopping therein.

The last named position of the cam (FlG. 3) corresponds to the running of the chronograph: In this position. the oscillating pinion 2 is engaged in the toothing of the wheel ofchronograph l and the brake 50b is separated from this wheel. The hammer I0 is lifted by the element 36 of the cam.

It is to be noted that. if a force or pressure is exerted on the rcturn to-zero control level 31 while the chrono graph is running. the arm 3lu of said control lever passes in front of the element 38 of the cam but does not reach it. Pressing on the lever 3| while the chronograph is running. therefore, does not interfere with the driving mechanism as is the case of several prior art chronograph mechanisms. In some prior art devices,

operation of the return-to zero lever while the chronograph is running may results in damage to the chronograph.

lt is also to be noted that, since the hammer l0 is not 5 rigidly connected to the three element cam, but is controlled independent therefrom, the hammer does not effect a return movement when the mechanism occupics one or the other of its extreme positions, as would be the case if the hammer were rigidly connected to the cam. Consequently. the hammer never occupies a position proximate to the periphery of the movement and thus permits free passage of the rim of the oscillating mass of the automatic winder, diagrammatically by the numeral 58 in FIG. 4a. 5 In the last name position of the mechanism (FIG. 3). the reverse lever 29 occupies, when the pressure at 57 is released. the position represented in dot-and-dash lines in which its break 2917 is situated opposite a hear ing surface 59 of the element 38 of the three-elements cam.

Consequently. ifa new force or pressure is exerted on the bearing surface 34 of the control lever 26, the three-element cam is driven by the reverse lever 29 in the counter-clockwise direction. This results from the action of the nose 29b of reverse lever 29 on the hearing surface 59. until a nose 38a of the element 38, adjacent to the bearing surface 56 of this element. abuts against the nose 29a of the reverse lever. The last name action stops the displacement of the cam which is then stopped in its intermediary position, of stopping of the chronograph. as represented in FIG. 1.

The frictionally driven hours counter. positioned between the base-plate l8 and the dial. is controlled by a lever 60, constituting its return to Zero hammer. The peen 60a of the lever 60, cooperates with the heart 24. The lever 60 is articulated at 61 on a circular member 62 rigidly connected to the shaft 49, constituted by a stem passing through the movement along its entire height. of the lever 47 disclosed previously (FIGS. 1 to 3). The lever 47 is controlled by the element 38 of the threeelement cam. The hammer-lever 60 operates a lever 63, articulated at 64 on the base-plate. Lever 63 is provided with a shoe 63a cooperating with the disc 25 car'ried by the shaft 19 of the counter of hours. The shoe 63a is operable to stop the disc 25.

When the mechanism occupies the position represented in full lines in FIG. 5, corresponding to the position of stopping ofthe chronograph represented in FIG. 1, the shoe 63a bears against the disc 25 and locks the disc by reason of the friction produced by the spring cambered washer 20.

When the mechanism is brought into the running position (FIG. 3). the control elements of the counter of hours occupy the position represented in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 5, into position they are brought by the rotation of the member 62 which causes displacement of the axis of articulation 6| of the lever 60, the rotation of the member 62 being itself produced by the lever 47.

In this position of the mechanism, the brake 63a is separated from the disc 25, so as to permit the counter oi the hours to rotate.

When at last the mechanism occupies the position of return to zero corresponding to that of FIG. 2. the cow trol mechanism of the counter of the hours occupies the position represented in FIG 6.

In this latter position ol'the control mechanism of the counter of the hours. the hammenlcver 60 is controlled h a return to zero le\er b5 articulated at 66 on the base-plate and which is provided with a nose 6511 cooperating with a nose 60/ of the lever 60. The return to zero lever 65 is coupled with the control In er 31 through a portion 31b. thereof bent at right angle. to the lever 65. Thus. when the return to zero of the counters of the chronograph and of minutes is effected. the lever ()5 acts on the hammer-lever 60 to bring the peen 60a of hammer-lever 60 into cooperation with the heart 24 of return to zero of the counter of the hours.

lfthe force or pressure exerted at 54 (FIGS. 1 and 6) on the control lever 31 is released. the hammers 8a and 8h continue to hear on the hearts 7 and [7 of the counters of chronograph and of minutes. respectively. while the hammer 60a is separated from the heart 24 of the counter of the hours. under the action of a returnspring 67. The counter of the hours is. however. stopped by the brake 6311 which returns to make contact with the disc 25, as shown in HQ, 6 where this position is represented in dot-and-dash lines.

It is to be noted that these different operations are rendered possible by the position then occupied by the pi\ot 6| of the lever 60. The position occupied by lever 60 is due itself to the position occupied by the member 62. If. however. the return to zero lever 65 is operated when the mechanism occupies its running position. rep resented in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 5. the nose 65a of the lever ()5 will pass in front of the nose 60b of the lever 60 without driving it.

What we claim is:

l. A chronograph watch including a frame. at least one permanently frictionally driven counter, a control mechanism to control the counter. a brake operable on the counter to stop or release the same. and a hammer operable on the counter to set the same to zero. said watch comprising, a hammer-lever in said mechanism. a second lever rotatable about an axis in said mechanism to effect the starting or stopping operation of said mechanism and a third lever rotatable about an axis in said mechanism to effect the resetting to Zero operation of said mechanism, one of said second or third levers being operable to effect oscillating movement of said hammer-lever. and a movable member carrying the axis of rotation of the hammer-lever. whereby oscillating movement of said hammerlever around its axis controls a portion of the operation of said counter and movement of said movable member controls another portion of the operation of said counter.

2. A watch as claimed in claim I in which said mov able member is rotatably mounted on the frame. the axis of rotation of said hammer-lever being eccentrically mounted on said movable member, and a control cam operable on said second and third levers to effect the operations of the chronograph.

3. A watch as claimed in claim I in which said hammer-lever includes a return-to-zero hammer.

4. A watch as claimed in claim 3 in which said second lever is operatively connected to the stopping brake of the counter. 

1. A chronograph watch including a frame, at least one permanently frictionally driven counter, a control mechanism to control the counter, a brake operable on the counter to stop or release the same, and a hammer operable on the counter to set the same to zero, said watch comprising, a hammer-lever in said mechanism, a second lever rotatable about an axis in said mechanism to effect the starting or stopping operation of said mechanism and a third lever rotatable about an axis in said mechanism to effect the resetting to zero operation of said mechanism, one of said second or third levers being operable to effect oscillating movement of said hammer-lever, and a movable member carrying the axis of rotation of the hammer-lever, whereby oscillating movement of said hammer-lever around its axis controls a portion of the operation of said counter and movement of said movable member controls another portion of the operation of said counter.
 2. A watch as claimed in claim 1 in which said movable member is rotatably mounted on the frame, the axis of rotation of said hammer-lever being eccentrically mounted on said movable member, and a control cam operable on said second and third levers to effect the operations of the chronograph.
 3. A watch as claimed in claim 1 in which said hammer-lever includes a return-to-zero hammer.
 4. A watch as claimed in claim 3 in which said second lever is operatively connected to the stopping brake of the counter. 